NEW YORK — 1930 · Missing Person
The Disappearance of Judge Joseph Crater
New York State Supreme Court justice Joseph Force Crater vanished on the evening of 6 August 1930 after dining with friends at a restaurant on West 45th Street in Manhattan and getting into a taxi. On the day he disappeared he had destroyed some papers in his office and withdrawn a large sum of money, at a time when an investigation into city corruption was getting under way. The disappearance was not made public until weeks later, when it became a nationwide search. He was declared legally dead in 1939 at his wife's request. In 2005 police disclosed a letter opened after its writer's death that made a new claim, but it could not be verified.
- Date
- 1930
- Place
- New York, USA, New York, US
- Category
- Missing Person
- Case Status
- Unsolved
- Coordinates
- 40.7590, -73.9865 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 6 August 1930Crater was last seen getting into a taxi outside a Manhattan restaurant.
- 3 September 1930The disappearance was made public and a massive search began.
- 1939Crater was declared legally dead.
- 2005Police disclosed a new claim contained in a posthumously opened letter; it was never verified.
Sources
- HISTORY — Joseph Force Crater becomes the 'missingest man in New York' history.com ↗
- The New York Times — 2005 report on the Crater case nytimes.com ↗
- Wikipedia — Joseph Force Crater en.wikipedia.org ↗
- HISTORY
- The New York Times
- Wikipedia
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
Related Cases
More cases from New York
More cases from the 1930s
Categories
Collections
🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.